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“...scholarships for research and education...”

Newsletter April 2010

Spot the penguin

Volcano-ice Everyday Jeremy interactions life in Bentham on on Earth communist sex, law and and Mars Albania religion 8161 LEVERHULME APRIL10 NWSLTTR:11281 Leverhulme Jan 2601v5 23/4/10 09:59 Page 2

Direct Speech Seeing the world in a different light

Pleas for plain speaking often fall on deaf ears. The Most animals see complexity of modern life, the demands of courteous the world in a very debate, the comfort of a protective screen, these all different way from conspire to strip language of focus and precision. us and differ in their For the grant seeker, the problem is intensified by ability to see detail, movement and the wish to avoid closing off serendipitous appeals colour. There is, in to the hidden agendas which may be lurking behind addition, an aspect a granting agency’s call for bids. The consequence is of vision beyond that obscurity of language remains a characteristic these familiar visual of many such bids. abilities and one that is normally totally For The Leverhulme Trust, the issue is important. alien to humans: the The Trust Board brings a wide range of experience, ability to see not least in project assessment, to its consideration polarised light. of bids. But specialist knowledge of the themes Polarisation advanced is not always part of that experience. describes the Hence the reliance placed on peer review and hence direction in which a the gratitude felt for the guidance of peer reviewers. wave of light It is then easy to understand the attraction of those oscillates and, bids where the applicant has brought clarity of although humans thought and expression to the page. Two critical are unaware of it, junctures arise. The first is the project abstract: if light around us is The remarkable eyes of a dragonfly, Aeshna cyanea the 100 permitted words in an outline bid fail to polarised. Many (image credit: Walwyn). animals, such as answer the reader’s question ‘What is this project bees, fish, butterflies and a number of aquatic insects are known to use trying to do?’, then the game can be lost. The polarised light to provide extra information about the world in which second occurs in those instances where the they live. The benefits of seeing and being more sensitive to particular opportunity has been offered to the applicant to polarisations is straight-forward in some cases: ask any fisherman with respond to the comments of peer reviewers. If the Polaroid sunglasses on – cutting out certain polarisations reduces challenge is met by a consistently dense array of unwanted and confusing reflections from a water surface. technical argumentation, then the reaction can be ‘If Different areas of insect eyes are known to have evolved into specialised only the applicant were as clear about the character polarisation detectors to use for different tasks. This is partly to provide of this project as the reviewer’. fields of view with particular sensory properties and because polarisation vision can confound colour vision. For example, a small It is of course recognised that significant research part of the top of the eyes of honeybees, desert ants, and field crickets themes demand sophisticated expression. But is it is used as a polarisation-based navigational compass. Another then too much to ask that an applicant should show polarisation sensitive area has also been identified in the bottom half discrimination, addressing the peer community in of the eye of several aquatic insects, being used to identify sources of water by detecting those horizontally polarised reflections that the the body of the text, but recognising also the need fisherman’s sunglasses cut out. to speak directly to more generalist expertise in the abstract and in the response to comments? The However, many insects, such as dragonflies, start their lives as aquatic required skills are considerable; the reward in terms larvae and live underwater. The visual needs of the larvae and adults, of favourable grant decisions can also be and the properties of under- and above-water light environments, are both very different. Whilst we understand that both larval and adult impressive. dragonflies possess polarisation vision, how this vision in insects is adapted for specific visual environments at different life history stages is Richard Brook currently unknown. In this context, and using dragonflies as model species, The Leverhulme Trust has provided a grant to study how polarisation vision is adapted to the underwater realm of aquatic insect larvae and how this specialised sense develops to meet their future aerial adult requirements. Contacts A wider implication of this work centres on informing our understanding The Leverhulme Trust of the growing problem of anthropogenic polarised light pollution. 1 Pemberton Row, EC4A 3BG Insects use polarisation information for tasks such as the identification of water for habitat selection, identification of sites for egg laying, and Tel: 020 7042 9888 for navigation. However, increases in unnatural polarised light Fax: 020 7042 9889 signatures from structures including buildings, roads, and solar arrays have potentially negative affects on the survival of those insects for More articles on current research can be found in the which polarised light provides such important behavioural cues. Awards in Focus section of our website: Insights from this specialised visual sense, that is beyond direct human www.leverhulme.ac.uk/news experience, therefore has both pure and applied relevance. If you would like further copies of the Newsletter please email: [email protected] Dr Nicholas Roberts and Professor Julian Partridge University of Bristol

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Destination Italy: representing migration in contemporary media and narrative In recent years, Italy has undergone a Destination Italy will bring together scholars as COSPE (Cooperazione per lo Sviluppo dei sudden migratory influx of great proportions, working in the field of migration studies in Paesi Emergenti) will ensure impact of this which has raised a number of hotly-debated a truly international context. Oxford’s project beyond the close circle of specialist concerns – political, social and cultural. We interdisciplinary network for the study of scholars, aiming instead at influencing policy- believe that the public discussion of these Italy, Italian Studies at Oxford, will be at the makers and promoting public awareness. issues would benefit from an outside, centre of a UK-based research group from multidisciplinary viewpoint, bringing the Universities of Birmingham, Bristol, The results of this project will be presented international expertise and solid research Oxford Brookes, Reading, UCL and Warwick. and discussed through three international work into the debate. The issue of migration Our international partners are based in Italy workshops, a major conference to be held is a determining factor in how Italian (COSPE, Florence; Rome University “La in 2011, and a volume publication. We aim society will evolve in the future, and for this Sapienza”, Roma Tre; Monash Centre, Prato), to produce a comprehensive and global reason it is vital to achieve a detailed Egypt (Helwan, Cairo), France (Paris 2) and evaluation of media and narrative understanding of the factors at play in such in the USA (CUNY). representations of migration to Italy, which a complex and radical process. will be a valuable source of inspiration and By involving researchers from countries that reference to policy makers, as much as This Network will explore issues related to have experience in analysing migratory academics working in a number of related media and narrative representations of patterns of the past, we can benefit from fields. migration in relation to the Italian case. It valuable methodological experience and input aims to produce an in-depth study in two to be applied to the project. At the same www.italianstudies.ox.ac.uk associated areas: how migrants are time, studying the role of media and narrative Dr Guido Bonsaver represented in the Italian media, cinema representations of Italy in a selection of the and literature, and how Italy has been countries where most migrants come from represented in these migrants’ countries of (Romania, Albania, Egypt, Ethiopia, the origin. Through this research, we aim to Maghreb) will provide an invaluable insight build up a comprehensive picture that will into the influence of real and ‘imagined’ contribute to an understanding of the role notions of the destination country. Finally, Piazza del Duomo, Lecce, Italy © Gianfranco of representation in migratory dynamics. the involvement of a prestigious NGO such Budano.

Astrobiological studies of volcano-ice interactions on Earth and Mars The science of astrobiology aims to understand the origin, evolution, and distribution of life in the Universe. One of the drivers of astrobiological research is the realisation that terrestrial life is able to thrive in environments that would once have been considered completely inimical to life, and that some of these ‘extreme’ environments are similar to those that have been identified on other planets, Mars in particular. The recognition of Mars as an important target for astrobiology has led to a number of recent and forthcoming missions to the planet, including the European Space Agency’s ExoMars mission. Although we do not yet know whether life exists, or has existed, on Mars we can start to identify potentially habitable environments where future searches might be made. An example of a terrestrial environment that Glacial ice directly interacting with fumaroles and hot mineral soils, producing localised meltwater is analogous to environments that could environments with steep thermal and pH gradients (image credit: Dr Katherine Joy, 2007). have existed on Mars occurs at the interface between active volcanism and overlying we aim to conduct two expeditions during life to colonise these environments on Earth glacial ice. This interaction produces hot the project. Kverkfjoll is a partially subglacial could allow for their survival on Mars. springs, hydrothermal pools, and hot mineral volcano situated above the Icelandic hot Our ultimate aim is to explore volcano-ice soils, which all have the potential to support spot. Here, hydrothermal fields near the interaction environments using a multi- well adapted and diverse microbial summit consist of small, acidic (pH 2–3) disciplinary approach, the results of which communities. Given the evidence for past meltwater pools, iron-rich springs, and will characterise these unusual habitats from volcanic activity on Mars, and the seemingly subglacial drainage streams. The ubiquitous presence of crustal ice (especially a combined biological, geological, and geomicrobiology of these environments has planetary science perspective. In addition to at high latitudes), it seems unavoidable that not previously been explored, and it provides volcano-ice interactions will have been a extending our knowledge of the adaptability an excellent focus for the research proposed of life to extreme environments on Earth, common feature of Mars’ geological history. here. We will also study the spectral The Leverhulme Trust has funded our our work will feed directly into the planning properties of these environments, to assist in of future Mars exploration. In this respect, project to explore the microbiology and the detection of similar, past environments biosignatures of terrestrial volcano-ice the timing of the present study is well suited on Mars using remote-sensing observations. to provide scientific input into the European interaction environments, with a view to Last, but not least, we will subject samples assessing the past or present habitability of Space Agency’s ExoMars rover and other collected from these environments to future Mars missions. similar localities on Mars. simulated Martian conditions in the Our research area is centred around the laboratory, to determine whether the Dr Ian Crawford and Dr Claire Cousins Kverkfjoll volcano in central Iceland, where evolutionary adaptations that have enabled Birkbeck,

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Everyday life in communist Albania: work, family, gender and leisure

What was daily life really like under the mysterious regime of Enver Hoxha in communist Albania? Hoxha ruled for more than forty years, stamping his complex character on all facets of Albanian life, including the landscape where 600,000 mushroom-like concrete bunkers remain as testimony to the leader’s paranoia about attack from abroad. True, there were major improvements in agriculture, industry, health, education and gender equality, but these were achieved within a regime of harsh repression and obsessive isolationism, the full story of which has yet to be told. Cowed into a state of fearful submission, the Albanian people withdrew into themselves, their thoughts kept secret and their daily lives left undocumented. Our research will unlock those thoughts Saranda public library, 1988. The portrait on the wall is of Mr Ramiz Alia, First Secretary of the Central and secrets, and uncover a unique and Committee of the Albanian Party of Labour (1985-1990), as the successor of the late dictator Enver inaccessible period of social history which Hoxha. The slogan reads: “Long live RPSSH [acronym for the Socialist People's Republic of Albania]”. © Erik Stewart, Norway. risks being lost, given the passage of twenty years since Albanian communism ended. Albania was the most doctrinaire of study funded by The Leverhulme Trust – communism (70 years plus), and those who the Eastern bloc states: its hardline Stalinist revealed both a firm rejection of the spent their childhood and early working lives ideology condemned it to almost complete communist past with its lack of freedom and under ‘the regime’ (40 years plus). isolation and self-sufficiency. It received grinding poverty, but also an emerging trend very few visitors and travel abroad was to express nostalgia for a communal system Additionally the research will assemble, banned for all but a small elite. with guaranteed employment and welfare. review and evaluate relevant statistics (acknowledging its propaganda nature), Through retrospective ethnography we aim Our core methodology will be oral history. A literature and archival material about the to document everyday life during the sample of 120 carefully selected participants period, and critical voices such as Ismail ‘hidden decades’ of communist rule along will be interviewed across six locations. Kadaré, Albania’s prize-winning author. A four main themes: work, leisure, family and These will be chosen to reflect, firstly, visual component, comprising analysis of gender. A second objective is to draw Albania’s main regional configurations films and photographs from the period, as lessons from the Albanian experience of (North, South, the Tirana area), and well as films about the communist era communism and chaotic transition to secondly, the diversity of living and working produced since 1990, is included. Finally, capitalism. Are there aspects of the environments at the time (capital city, there will be interviews with a selection of organisation of society under communism industrial town, state farm, cooperative, Albanian politicians, writers, philosophers which have been lost but which would border zone). Life narratives will be collected and academics. improve the quality of life in the neoliberal from men and women and from an age- era? Our previous research on post-1990 range that includes both those who had all Professor Russell King and Dr Julie Vullnetari Albanian migration – including an earlier or most of their working lives under University of Sussex

Leverhulme Trust Board

The Trust is delighted to The Trust is honoured to announce the election of Sir announce the nomination of Iain Anderson on 2 March Dr Ashok Ganguly on 20 2010 to Fellowship of the Royal November 2009 to Rajya Society of Edinburgh. The Sabha, the Upper House of Society, founded in 1783, has a the Parliament of India. The peer-elected Fellowship of 1500 nomination by President men and women chosen on Pratibha Patil brings to the the basis of their eminence Parliament this former within their fields. Sir Iain has Chairman of Hindustan a long record of service to the Lever Limited (1980-1990) Trust, joining the Trustees in and current member of the 1997 and continuing to the present day as a member of the Trust Prime Minister’s Council for Trade and Industry. Dr Ganguly Board. His association with Unilever extended from 1965 until 1998, became a member of the Leverhulme Trustees in 2000 where when he retired as a Director. Among his other accomplishments, he remains a member of the Trust Board. Dr Ganguly combines his role as independent reviewer of the Government’s handling of scientific expertise spreading widely from his home field of the foot and mouth outbreaks in 2001 and 2007 won him chemistry, with diverse experience of international business widespread recognition. enterprise.

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A longitudinal study of NEET young people Reducing the number of young people not in education, employment and disengagement, education, employment or training (NEET) is a and the effectiveness of initiatives aimed at priority for the UK Government. Official re-engagement. This research indicates that, discourse presents these young people as as well as individualised factors, economic being at high risk of social exclusion, and restructuring and changes in labour market research shows that being NEET is associated conditions are associated with high levels of with long-term unemployment, ill-health and social exclusion amongst young people. early parenthood. However, despite numerous However, many existing studies rely on initiatives, the proportion of 16-18 year olds quantitative data, and despite their importance who are NEET has remained at around ten in providing information on the NEET per cent since 2001, and this figure appears to population as a whole, are unable to reveal the have grown since the onset of recession in complex processes affecting the lives of this 2008. These young people are often from group. A full understanding of the experiences disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds of young people as they move between and many have negative experiences of different forms of engagement and exclusion schooling, few qualifications, and barriers to requires detailed qualitative investigation over Rising levels of unemployment amongst young engagement such as homelessness, youth an extended period. Unfortunately, due to the people are of increasing concern to Government. offending, and drug or alcohol misuse. challenges and expense of conducting long- Although disengagement is often short-lived, term qualitative research with ‘hard-to-reach’ people and the effectiveness of interventions the proportion of young people who are NEET young people, there have been few previous aimed at moving them into education, for long periods is growing. Furthermore, the studies of this nature. training or employment. The study will have average age of the NEET group is increasing, significance for policy-makers, academics indicating that policy initiatives may simply be Our project will take a longitudinal and practitioners, providing a detailed deferring disengagement. ethnographic approach to explore, over three understanding of the subjective and objective years, the experiences of NEET young people conditions of these young people. Over the last fifteen years, a growing body of aged 16-18 in two neighbouring local research has explored the characteristics of authorities in the north of . It will Dr Robin Simmons and Mr Ron Thompson NEET young people, their movement between contribute to understanding these young University of Huddersfield

Naukratis: a Greek trading post in Egypt

One of the most fertile encounters of the ancient world was that between Egypt and Greece. Their intense exchange of goods, people and ideas crucially contributed to the shaping of European culture. At the heart of this exchange was the site of Naukratis in the Nile Delta. Established in the later 7th century BC, Naukratis was the only Greek city in Egypt until Alexander the Great’s conquest of Egypt some 400 years later. As the main crossroads of two great civilisations, Naukratis is thus uniquely placed to shed light on the nature and Excavations at Naukratis under D.G. Hogarth, 1899. Naukratis was excavated in four seasons development of this momentous interaction. between 1884-1886 (Petrie/Gardner) and 1899/1903 (Hogarth). Image © British Museum. A joint venture by twelve Greek cities, seasons between 1884-1903 brought to light gather, re-contextualise and analyse the Naukratis must have been a bustling harbour Greek sanctuaries, a cemetery, streets and scattered surviving finds, addressing town, the Shanghai of ancient Egypt: here, houses and an Egyptian temple complex, questions such as: How did the nature and ships coming into Egypt docked and paid and over 12,000 finds were recovered. organisation of the settlement and its their taxes, exchanging Greek and Phoenician Yet much of the potential offered by this rich economic and political status and role wine, oil and silver against Egyptian natron, evidence has so far remained unexploited. change over time? How was material culture grain, and linen. People from Caria, Cyprus, The original publications were highly used in the construction of ethnic and social and Italy, too, passed through Naukratis, not incomplete and the finds – many of them still identities? Did a hybrid Greek/Egyptian just as traders but also as mercenaries for unstudied – dispersed among 50 museums culture develop at the site? What role did the Egyptian army. Among famous Greek worldwide. Moreover, a strong Greek bias in Phoenicians and Cypriots play? visitors were the statesman Solon and the modern scholarship has meant that the The project will result in the publication of a historian Herodotus, who especially noted site’s Egyptian aspects and its role in the new analysis of Naukratis and its role in the attractive local courtesans. wider framework of Eastern Mediterranean Greek-Egyptian relations and in an open- Having long been known only from interaction have largely been ignored. access database that will finally re-unite in an Herodotus’ descriptions, the rediscovery of An interdisciplinary re-evaluation of Naukratis up-to-date catalogue the archaeological Naukratis in 1883 by pioneering Egyptologist using a contemporary methodological material from the early excavations. Thus, Sir Flinders Petrie caused a stir among approach is clearly needed. This is the aim of 125 years after its discovery, an important scholars and the public alike, who saw in it a research project by Greek archaeologists archaeological assemblage will be made the place where Greek culture received its and Egyptologists based at the British historically relevant for the first time. ‘education’ at the hands of the much older Museum, repository of the largest single Dr Alexandra Villing Egyptian civilisation. Four excavation collection of finds from Naukratis. It will British Museum

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Spot the penguin Carolyn Allen, of the Trust, reports

Object recognition software adds green boxes when any penguin is recognised and yellow boxes when it recognises a specific penguin from the database (bottom). Extracted spot patterns (top). © Penguin Recognition Project / T Burghardt.

A smart video camera system, developed Humans caused the first major decline in According to Professor Peter Barham, a with the support of a Leverhulme Trust penguin numbers by taking too many eggs physicist at Bristol University and the Research Project Grant, is helping (considered a delicacy), and harvesting originator of the project, penguin contact scientists to spot the difference between guano, which the birds burrowed into to can be pretty stressful for humans too: over 20,000 individual African penguins in make their nests, for fertilizer. “These penguins are vicious, nasty things their natural habitat. that bite and scratch. They have very sharp In the past seven years, the birds have beaks. I do love them but, by God, they can The automated computer recognition suffered a further decline, for which, hurt,” he said. system, designed to assist the ongoing scientists fear, we may also be at least partly monitoring and conservation of a colony of to blame. Climate change is changing the Professor Barham, a self-confessed penguin African penguins on Robben Island in course of the cold Benguela current which fanatic, had the idea that the random but South Africa, reduces stress for both carries the penguins’ primary food source unique sets of black spots scattered on the penguin and scientist and could transform – sardines and anchovies – further out to birds’ white chests could be exploited to conservation fieldwork for many other sea, beyond the penguins’ reach. develop a less intrusive monitoring system. endangered species. To design successful strategies to protect Because the pattern of spots does not change African penguins –popularly known as the African penguin, conservationists need with the annual moult, a computer program jackass penguins because their call sounds to know more about how the animals live can use them as ‘fingerprints’ to recognise like a braying donkey – are an endangered and what effects factors such as climate and individual animals from digital images. species. A century ago, over 1 million fish stocks have on their breeding success. Taking up the idea, Dr Tilo Burghardt, then African penguins waddled and swam on But the usual practice of monitoring and a PhD student in the Department of the southern African coastline but the tracking penguins by tagging their flippers Computing Science, started researching and global population has plummeted to with metal bands can affect the penguins’ engineering a biometric computer vision around 170,000, largely confined to a few ability to swim and forage and the human system that could exploit the patterns. islands off South Africa’s tip. contact involved causes stress. The researchers field tested the first prototype system in Bristol Zoo Gardens, where it correctly identified all 38 adult penguins. Pilot tests on Robben Island, supported by the Earthwatch Institute, confirmed the feasibility of using the approach in the penguins’ natural habitat. Having secured funding from The Leverhulme Trust for their project, the research team –now including biologists, Professor Innes Cuthill and PhD student, Richard Sherley –worked to improve the prototype system and develop it into a full- scale monitoring tool. To meet the challenges posed by round-the- clock remote sensing in a hostile and low- tech environment, the devices were engineered to include motion detection to African penguins have white chests scattered with black spots, each formed by three or four black reduce storage and processing demands; feathers. The pattern of spots is unique for every penguin, like human fingerprints (© PJ Barham). software and camera adaptations to deal

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Two African penguins passing an early surveillance kit on their way from the colony to the sea (Robben Island, 2007) © PJ Barham, T Burghardt, and R Sherley.

with low light and overexposure; and only much more data than could have been natural patterns including the ‘nicks’ in the machine learning additions to cope with collected with traditional manual tagging fins of sharks. dirt and shadows. methods but detailed benchmarking “We believe that the new technology we experiments have confirmed that the Cameras are now hidden at ground level have developed has the potential to identify computer system makes less mistakes. on both of the major ‘penguin highways’ and monitor large numbers of diverse on Robben Island and footage is sent The non-invasive nature of the technology species, cheaply, quickly and automatically” wirelessly to a computer running the (the penguins do not seem to even notice said Dr Berghardt. biometric identification software. If a bird the cameras once they are installed) means Although more work will be needed to truly is not in full view, the computer abandons that researchers can explore questions transfer this technology to other species the ID attempt but when the penguin’s previously thought too difficult to address and habitats, its non-invasive nature chest is clearly visible the software such as whether penguins have specific together with the capability to collect generates a two dimensional map of the ‘friendship’ groups or how long an previously unheard of quantities of accurate pattern of black spots and compares this individual penguin takes to find fish. data could provide an entirely new approach with a database of stored maps. The researchers are now extending the to studying wild animal populations. During the course of the project the principles behind the work to other researchers have collected several million species. They have already implemented a Professor Barham’s work was supported images from the colony, yielding more than pilot system that can identify zebras and by a three year Research Project Grant 200,000 penguin sightings. This is not have also extended the concept to other awarded in 2006

Spots mark the ends and bifurcation points of the zebra stripes. The resulting spot patterns are unique to individual zebras (© T Burghardt and S Grange).

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Modern human settlement of the Near East: the female perspective

The emerging field of archaeogenetics has especially Anatolia, in order to become a crucial part of the project of study the first settlement and reconstructing the human past – especially subsequent demographic history mapping out prehistoric population dispersals. of human populations in that It achieves this mainly by studying non- part of the world. Because of the recombining genetic markers in existing human Near East’s crucial role in west populations – in particular, the mitochondrial Eurasian prehistory, however, DNA (mtDNA), which tracks the maternal this research will allow us to line of descent, and the Y chromosome, for illuminate the dispersal history the male lineage. Analysing variation in these of a much wider region. markers allows us to reconstruct genealogical The Near East is widely held to lines of descent and compare distributions of have been the source of European lineages from one population to another, in populations in both the Upper order to estimate the timing of migrations Palaeolithic – the first settlement between them – an approach known as by modern humans, ~45 kya phylogeography. More specifically, we can use (thousand years ago) – and, in Earliest modern human burial on the Anatolian plateau from the the variation accumulated exclusively within the some models, the Neolithic, from Epipalaeolithic/Late Glacial campsite at Pınarbaşi –excavated population of a part of the world settled during ~9 kya. Yet relatively little genetic by Dr D Baird –c. 13000 BC (image credit: Dr D Baird). prehistoric times, along with an estimate of the research has been devoted to the mutation rate or ‘molecular clock’, to estimate region. There has been no concerted attempt between Europe and the Near East, especially the time of settlement – a procedure we have to reconstruct the demographic history of the in the key postglacial period when agriculture christened ‘founder analysis’. Near East from mtDNA sequences – in part, first emerged. Ultimately, we aim to put all of Most work on European and Near Eastern because of the poor resolution of the mtDNA the pieces together with data now becoming mtDNA in the past has focused on a short control region referred to above. Moreover, available on markers from the rest of the stretch of the mtDNA control region. The previous work on the settlement of Europe genome, and with new archaeological evidence problems with this work are both a lack of similarly suffers from those weaknesses. In from the later Palaeolithic and Neolithic of genealogical resolution and very imprecise this project, we will combine the new complete the changing nature of settlement and for the age estimates. In this project, funded by The mtDNA genomes from Anatolia with data we spread of farming. This should provide us Leverhulme Trust, we are applying the are generating from other parts of the Near with a fresh synthesis of the settlement phylogeographic approach to complete East and Europe. We will first target relict history of both the Near East and Europe. mtDNA genome sequences, which provide a lineages from throughout the region in order step-change in the level of resolution we can to address the question of first settlement Professor Martin Richards achieve. We will focus on the Near East, and then focus on Anatolia – a crucial bridge University of Leeds on sex, law, and religion

The Bentham Project, in the Faculty of Laws and around forty more will be needed to should be left to determine what form of at University College London, is producing complete the edition. This award from The gratification is most enjoyable for him or the new authoritative edition of The Collected Leverhulme Trust will fund the preparation her. Furthermore, the law should not punish Works of Jeremy Bentham. There has never of possibly the most controversial text in the persons for indulging in ‘irregular’ sexual been an adequate edition of the writings of whole projected series, namely Bentham’s practices, providing that the participants the utilitarian philosopher and reformer writings on sex, law, and religion. The have freely consented. In Bentham’s view, Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832), whose basic volume, based entirely on Bentham’s sex is ‘pure’ pleasure, and therefore cannot moral principle was that right actions were original manuscripts, most of which are constitute an offence, which is those that promoted ‘the greatest happiness previously unpublished, will contain an characterised by the production of pain. of the greatest number’. Since the late 1960s editorial introduction, full annotation of the Bentham was also concerned about the almost thirty volumes have been published, text, and name and subject indexes. dangers of over-population, and so hoped, In these virtually unknown writings dating by encouraging non-procreative sex, to ease from 1814 and 1816, Bentham profoundly the eventual threat of famine that unrestrained challenges conventional sexual morality, population growth would produce. By the which he believed had its origin in the Mosaic 1810s Bentham had become a democrat, and law and the asceticism of St Paul. He argues his writings on sex took on a strong political that in this respect the religion of Paul was dimension. Prevalent sexual attitudes reflected different from the religion of Jesus, in that the interests of the ruling classes, and hence there is Biblical evidence that Jesus had undermining them would bring a democratic taken lovers of both sexes. He draws on his and republican government a step closer. extensive knowledge of classical literature to It is anticipated that the appearance of this show that the boundaries of what in his material will lead to new interpretive scholarly own time was regarded as ‘regular’ sexual work across a range of disciplines in the fields behaviour had previously been much wider. of history, law, philosophy, and medicine. He criticises the view that ‘regular’ or Bentham’s utilitarian thought will provide, ‘natural’ sexual relationships consist in sex for instance, a principled basis on which to between one male and one female for the challenge current human-rights based purpose of procreation. In contrast, he approaches to sexual ethics and politics. Jeremy Bentham in 1829, aged about 81. By this argues that there is no ‘natural’ or time, he was renowned throughout Europe and ‘unnatural’ means of gratifying the sexual Professor Philip Schofield the Americas as a leading legal philosopher. appetite, but rather that each individual University College London

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An urban history of Belfast

Belfast is Ireland’s only example of a major Industrialisation created slum conditions only gradually cleared during the late nineteenth century in industrial city. But it was also, at its peak, an improvement schemes like the one that produced this photograph (Belfast City Council). urban centre of international importance. Already in the eighteenth century it was a following the classic trajectory from shock represents an important and neglected part significant Atlantic trading port; by the early city to mature industrial centre, and then to of the history of the British industrial city. twentieth it had become one of the world’s urban decay and renewal. It will show how leading centres of shipbuilding and linen these different stages of urban development Belfast 400 will be published by Liverpool manufacture. Yet the story of its remarkable were reflected in the experience of the University Press, building on the success of rise, with all the far-reaching social and inhabitants – in changes in housing and their earlier Liverpool 800, which was also cultural changes that came with it, remains physical environment, in new types of supported by The Leverhulme Trust. The City largely untold. Instead attention has focused regulation of time, space and public Council and Queen’s University have both narrowly on the origins and development of behaviour, in the formation of different types contributed to the production costs. The the city’s sectarian and political conflicts, as of community, in new patterns of leisure and support of the Trust will ensure that the seen from the vantage point of the events of consumption. None of this implies an volume is a truly comprehensive history, the past few decades. The four hundredth attempt to ignore the sectarian and political bringing out the full potential of both literary anniversary of the granting of the town’s conflict that constitute the uglier side of the and visual sources to reconstruct a rich, charter in 1613, coming at a time when new city’s past; nothing is to be gained by multilayered urban history that transcends research has at last begun to explore the producing a sanitised history. But these contemporary political and sectarian divisions. full range of developments that make up must not be allowed to overshadow other this distinctive urban history, provides the aspects of an urban experience that is Professor Sean Connolly opportunity to redress that imbalance. unique in Irish terms, and at the same time Queen’s University of Belfast The aim of the project is to produce a new volume, Belfast 400, that will bring together the results of new work in an accessible overview. It will explore the reasons behind Belfast’s early emergence as a settlement, its development into a prosperous trading centre, with strong links to North America and the Caribbean, and the Although the town’s charter dates only from 1613 recent Founding Father: Sir Arthur Chichester reading the town’s new subsequent rise of the excavations have revealed a much longer and more complex charter (1613), as imagined in John Luke’s mural of 1950 (Belfast industrial town, history than was previously recognised (NIEA: Built Heritage). City Council).

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Grants awarded by the Board at their March 2010 meeting The numbers in parentheses are the awards duration in months. Research Project Grants Applied sciences (including ) Dr Paula Mendes Molecular level control over the immobilisation of biomolecules on surfaces £109,150 (24) University of Birmingham Dr Ana Ferreira Probing the earth's deep mantle with multiscale seismology and geodynamics £139,909 (36) University of East Anglia Professor Manish Chhowalla Large area electronics with solution processed chemically derived graphene £131,066 (24) Imperial College London Professor Lorenzo Strigini Uncertainty and confidence in safety arguments: effect on expert decision makers £239,175 (30) City University Dr Dominic Wright Exploring new parallels between main group and transition metal phosphides £128,159 (36) University of Cambridge Dr Lijie Li Coupled electromagnetic and electro-mechanical modelling of high efficiency radi £99,179 (24) Swansea University Dr Frank Guerin A computational model of infant means-end behaviour £53,840 (36) University of Aberdeen Professor Mohan Edirisinghe Generation of novel structures using co-flow in needles in an electric field £87,165 (18) University College London Dr Colin Berry The endophytic migration of insecticidal bacillus thuringiensis in arabidopsis £98,198 (24) Cardiff University Basic sciences

Dr Ian Crawford Astrobiological studies of volcano-ice interactions on Earth and Mars £163,860 (36) Birkbeck, University of London Professor Derryck Reid Frequency combs on the move: a precision frequency reference for everyone £177,957 (36) Heriot-Watt University Dr Mahmut Tor Investigating the phenomenon of a cryptic effector in H.arabidopsidis £178,734 (36) University of Warwick Dr Euan Brechin Hierarchical assembly of magnetic materials from polynucleating oximes £132,847 (36) University of Edinburgh Professor Mary O'Neill Semiconducting biaxial nematic liquid crystals £217,972 (27) University of Hull Professor Michael Peter Helmuth Stumpf Bayesian reverse engineering of complex dynamical systems in nature £224,972 (36) Imperial College London Professor Fernanda Ferreira Disfluencies in language: producing & interpreting speech repairs £139,005 (24) University of Edinburgh Dr Sarah-Jayne Blakemore Genetic influence on development of human rostral prefrontal cortex £236,193 (36) University College London Dr Vasilios Stavros Vibrationally mediated photodissociation: unravelling dynamics in biomolecules £136,444 (36) University of Warwick Dr Karl Evans Can climate change induce trophic mismatches that reduce orchid reproduction? £136,403 (36) University of Sheffield Dr Ian Crossley Conjugated phosphapolyynes: en route to functional phosphaorganometallic polymer £134,556 (36) University of Sussex Professor Maximilian J Telford Convergence or homology of larvae and guts in animal evolution £178,177 (36) University College London Dr Chris Blackman Nanotechnology for gas sensors £106,151 (24) University College London Dr Klaus von Haeften Superfluidity effects in molecule-helium interactions £116,965 (24) University of Leicester Professor Gareth Gaskell Novel word integration in adults and children £159,231 (36) University of York Dr James Russell The developmental trajectory of episodic memory from the pre-school years £131,256 (36) University of Cambridge

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Professor Kim Bard Socio-emotional experiences & primate social cognition£135,232 (36) University of Portsmouth Dr Vasilios Stavros Femtosecond dynamics of tyrosine and tryptophan £64,768 (36) University of Warwick Dr Fernando Bresme Water polarization under thermal gradients £86,904 (24) Imperial College London Dr Vasily Oganesyan Molecular dynamics and EPR spectroscopy: new structural tools for biology £93,090 (24) University of East Anglia Professor Kenneth Gilhooly Incubation in creativity: the thought suppression hypothesis. £40,311 (12) University of Hertfordshire Dr Ai-Lan Lee Enantioselective intermolecular oxidative heck couplings £97,313 (24) Heriot-Watt University Dr Nicholas Roberts Ontogeny of aquatic and aerial polarization vision in an insect predator £62,790 (36) University of Bristol Professor Barry Lygo Transition state driven development of efficient organocatalysts £90,722 (24) University of Nottingham Professor Zewei Luo Novel methods for mapping quantitative trait loci in autotetraploid species £91,643 (30) University of Birmingham Dr Frans Maathuis Fluorescent reporters for live cell imaging of cAMP and cGMP in plants £50,299 (12) University of York Dr Henner Busemann Correlated early solar system chronology – djerfisherite in enstatite chondrites £82,628 (24) University of Manchester Dr Johan Hulleman A unified model of visual search £33,829 (12) University of Hull Professor Glyn Humphreys From case studies to theories of vision Agnosia and Balint's syndrome £93,261 (24) University of Birmingham Economics, business studies, industrial relations Professor John Finch Sorting goods from bads: how actors collaborate in marketing green chemistry £103,410 (36) University of Strathclyde Dr Ian Crawford Are behavioural economic models falsifiable? £112,560 (36) University of Oxford Dr Matthew Cole Industrial activity and the environment: a spatial analysis £69,493 (24) University of Birmingham Education Dr Robin Simmons A longitudinal study of the experiences of 'NEET' young people £124,721 (34) University of Huddersfield Humanities Dr Stephen Baxter Profile of a doomed elite: the structure of English landed society in 1066 £254,742 (24) King's College London Professor Martin Richards Complete mtDNA variation and the modern human settlement of Southwest Asia £147,965 (36) University of Leeds Professor John Barnden Metaphor and metonymy: addressing a debate and a neglected problem £188,065 (36) University of Birmingham Professor Bruce Bradley Learning to be human: skill acquisition and the development of the human brain £231,237 (36) University of Exeter Professor Philip Schofield Jeremy Bentham on sex, law, and religion £158,516 (36) University College London Dr Sacha Stern The Jewish calendar in al-Biruni and other early Islamic sources £104,790 (24) University College London Dr Alexandra Villing Naukratis: trade and interaction between Greece and Egypt 700-300 BC £181,417 (24) British Museum Professor Peter Adamson Natural philosophy in the Islamic world £249,733 (36) King's College London Professor Christina Victor Inter, intra-generational & transnational caring in minority communities £213,482 (24) Brunel University Dr Jody Joy The Chiseldon cauldrons: investigation of British and Irish iron age cauldrons £96,044 (24) British Museum

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Professor Sean Connolly An urban history of Belfast £58,149 (15) Queen's University of Belfast Professor David Hardiman A history of non-violent resistance in South Asia £95,533 (36) University of Warwick Law, politics, international relations

Professor Christopher Hood Yesterday’s tomorrows: what happened to the future of government? £96,384 (36) University of Oxford Mr Alan Story The North-to-South transplantation of copyright laws and values £96,299 (36) University of Kent Social studies (incl. anthropology, geography, social psychology)

Dr Pasco Fearon The genetics of attachment in the ‘TEDS’ longitudinal twin study £251,810 (20) University of Reading Professor Russell King Everyday life in communist Albania £174,117 (36) University of Sussex Dr Caroline Upton Community, place and pastoralism: nature and society in Post-Soviet Central Asia £151,232 (24) University of Leicester International Networks Humanities

Professor Alexander Broadie Scottish philosophers in seventeenth-century Scotland and France £78,937 (36) University of Glasgow Dr Guido Bonsaver Destination Italy: representing migration in contemporary media and narrative £93,858 (24) University of Oxford Dr Stacy Gillis Approaching war: children's culture & war, 1880-1919 £84,264 (36) Newcastle University Dr Stephen Tuck European perspectives on US history £45,570 (17) University of Oxford Fine and performing arts

Professor Richard Gough Laboratory theatre network £83,664 (36) Aberystwyth University Professor Richard Thomson Redefining European symbolism c1880-1910 £123,755 (36) University of Edinburgh Law, politics, international relations

Professor Tonia Anna Novitz Voices at work: legal effects on organisation, representation and negotiation £84,015 (36) University of Bristol Dr Lara Perry Transnational perspectives on women's art, feminism and curating £56,839 (18) Social studies (incl. anthropology, geography, social psychology)

Dr Sara Gonzalez Towards a 'post-neoliberal urban deal'? Uneven local responses to the global £65,957 (24) University of Leeds recession Professor Andres Ruiz-Linares Network for the study of the evolution of Latin American populations £122,000 (24) University College London Arts Training

Professor Iain Borden Graduate mentorships at the Bartlett School of Architecture £49,772 (36) University College London Professor Rhian Samuel Music composition workshops £50,193 (36) City University Ms Angela Bond Training programme for new writers & directors £69,000 (36) The Bush Theatre Mr Chris Marshall Junior conservatoire mentoring scheme £80,043 (36) Birmingham Conservatoire Mr Martin Fitzpatrick ENO trainee repetiteur £34,500 (36) English National Opera

12 April 2010 www.leverhulme.ac.uk